The world of online dating can be a difficult one to navigate. You'll come across people who you don't have a lot in common with, others who you aren't attracted to and some who don't see you as the perfect match.

Whoever you come across during your foray into internet dating, you'll likely get a fair few messages. But should you answer every single one? 

While it goes without saying that any abusive or inappropriate messages should be ignored and the sender blocked and reported, it is a good idea to answer every other message, and here's why:

You could meet a true friend

Even if you don't end up feeling that romantic spark, you could end up making a good friend, which is just as great as meeting a potential partner. You could discover that you have a lot in common, even if you don't fancy each other, which can lead you to develop a lasting relationship of a different kind.

You can never have too many friends, so saying 'hi' back to those who message you is a great way to see if there is something else there even if you don't feel that initial rush of romance.

It's good practice

Responding to every message you get is good practice when it comes to talking to someone online. It can help you work out when your humour works in message form and when it doesn't, as well as what mistakes you should avoid when talking online. 

All of this practice will help you develop your online social skills, which will help you out when you find someone you really like. When this happens, you'll be an online chat savant and will be one step closer to forming a lasting relationship.

You'll develop conversation stoppers

Once you've realised that someone isn't right for you and that there is no possibility of a friendship or something more, you need to be able to stop the conversation in a polite way. This can take a bit of practice and it's worth noting that some people are harder to end a conversation with than others.

You don't want to be stuck feeling like you have to keep talking to someone because you can't end it, even though you're not interested. Not only is this time-consuming, it isn't fair to them as it can give them the impression that you're interested. Working out the best ways to stop a conversation takes trial and error, but is the best option for both parties.  

It's just polite

The biggest reason you should respond to every message you get? It's just polite. While it is easy to hit the delete button, this isn't the nicest way to deal with messages. You really wouldn't like it if you messaged someone you were interested in and they never responded to you, so don't do that to anyone else.

Even if you just respond to say thank you for the message but you don't think it's a good fit, it will help to manage people's expectations and not get their hopes up. ADNFCR-2867-ID-801822368-ADNFCR

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